Thursday, December 03, 2009

Theme Thursday : Friend



The topic this Theme Thursday is "Friend" which is always a difficult subject because you are bound to upset someone. Write about your best friend Bert and your best friend John is bound to take offence. Single out your oldest friend Mike and your even older friend Paul is likely to go into a sulk. And if you single out any friend above and beyond your dearly beloved, domestic bliss and happiness is likely to be as scarce as it is at the end of Tiger Woods' drive. Faced with this conundrum, I believe that I have hit on a rather clever solution thanks to Mr Google and his rather clever Picasa software. I have mentioned before on these pages, the ability of the new version of Picasa to use facial recognition software to gather photographs of friends and sort them into folders. A second ability of Picasa 3 is to produce a collage of such faces : either one based upon merged images or a mosaic type of collage. For my illustration of this week's theme I have chosen the merged-image option and I therefore present you with a picture of my "friend". It is built up of the faces of every friend that is stored on my rather large digital image collection. It is made up of men and women, most races under the sun, and even a dog thrown in for good measure. You may think it is rather an anodyne affair, lacking in individuality or strength. But to me it has the strength of many and symbolises the power of friends united in solidarity.

As Wednesday turns into Theme Thursday I look at the picture and I can almost recognise each of the 50 or 60 faces that make it up. Look carefully at the picture, there is a good chance that your face forms part of it. I raise my glass of Czech Budveiser Budvar and drink to your collective health. To "Friends".

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE ......
THEME THURSDAY : Have a look how other bloggers have interpreted this week's theme.
FACING UP TO THINGS : From The NfN Archives - More about the delights of Picasa

46 comments:

  1. Alan, it's funny how it has such a painterly quality. What a great idea and nobody's nose is out of joint (that I can see, anyway).

    You're a beer connoisseur? You and my husband would get on like a house on fire! Mine's a Hoegaarden, if you're pouring!

    Kat

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  2. Anonymous1:47 AM

    Pretty neat idea, Alan. I've not upgraded to Picasa3 as yet but no worries. There's a sort of haunting effect about this one( or is that just me? )

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  3. How nice to have one image to represent all your friends. I'll bet you remember it to the end of your days.

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  4. What a great morph. That sure would be one hugely interesting person, with a mighty large ego! Happy TT! -J

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  5. ah Budveiser Budvar ! A Few pints of that and you dont even need Picasa !

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  6. You know, just looking at it the image appears to be a surrealistic dream... but knowing what it really is makes it, well, kinda creepy!

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  7. Now, wasn't that clever! :) I didn't mentiona specific person, either.

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  8. I didn't know Picasa did that it looks almost like a Picaso. :)

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  9. Well, Alan you ARE clever aren't you?! now, are all your friends white or something? I suppose being Yorkshire that must be more so. It is also painterly as Poetikat so well noted.

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  10. Reminds me of one of the Dr. Who effects...

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  11. Cracking idea Alan. Cheers to you too!

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  12. A great idea--& I agree with Kat--it does look painted.

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  13. This is so cool... I love it! Especially as it includes the trusty canine!

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  14. Hi Alan!Brillant post!Wishing you an Happy TT!

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  15. How very clever. I'm impressed.

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  16. Very ghost-like, your melding of friends. Cool idea, Alan.

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  17. There's something very Mona Lisa about it. I wonder if Da Vinci used Picasa.

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  18. Mo : Perhaps not ... but there again I did have a friend called Mona.

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  19. wow are you a clever friend!! it was great fun to click to enlarge the portrait and examine it closely, I bet you could recognize so many!

    did you ever work in the diplomatic corps? if not they sure could have used you!

    cheers! happy TT but since it's just after 9 am for now I raise a cuppa joe to you and all our friends in the bloggyhood.

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  20. Quite clever! Is the Swedish woman in there somewhere?

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  21. Kimy : It is 3.00pm in the afternoon when I am reading your comments, so I return your toast with a cup of tea.
    Silver Fox : Of course.

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  22. alan, that has to be the most amazing thing i have ever seen and the best take on the theme of the day...see now i have probably upset a friend or two...drat! happy tt!

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  23. How long did it take to blend in all those people? Oh, and Budveiser Budvar...I remember when the Budweiser here in the USA thought they were "safe" with their name, not realizing that the other one had been around for hundreds of years earlier...

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  24. Is it the face of God?

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  25. VE : Picasa did all the work and only took a minute or two. And yes, I remember the Budweiser case, I believe they are still fighting a battle against the Czech brewery.

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  26. That's amazing, and I love it. All the qualities and gifts of all your friends in one portrait--imagine the power in that one image!

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  27. How clever, I wonder if Abe has checked that feature out? Have a great up coming week-end.

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  28. Patty : I am sure he does - Abe has forgotten more about photography than I have ever known.

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  29. Oo! This made my knees go funny when I enlarged it - it almost moves. What a great way to celebrate your friends!

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  30. Well, that is probably the most creative take I have seen on this theme! Bravo!

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  31. 50 0r 60 friends...wow. I might have 10 friends, and i never see them! Good idea!

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  32. Excellent and they say you can't please all of the people all of the time - you just did! I really must try that facial recognition thing it looks like fun!

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  33. Clever, Alan! Thanks for your comments to me earlier and Happy Thursday!

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  34. Oooh,I wan tot try that. What a clever programme and what a clever chum you are

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  35. Very interesting! It looks ghostly, in a way. I wonder if this is what Heathcliff saw when he looked out the window after hearing Cathy call him?

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  36. Roy : It could well be what Heathcliff saw, especially as we live within a few miles of all the locations that the Brontes used as the basis for their stories. On a clear day yopu can just about see the moors above Haworth from just down the road.

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  37. What a fantastic idea!
    Happy tt to you.

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  38. What a cool idea! I love it. Happy TT!

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  39. Wow, I can see all sorts of faces. Hopefully they're not in my head.

    Nice and timely reference to Tiger Woods!

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  40. This is amazing! What a great idea. I think you're right about the potential to offend certain friends..What a very unique way to avoid that..LOL!!

    I raise a cuppa Yorkshire Gold back your way this evening:)...

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  41. I love the idea of incorporating many friends into one image.

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  42. As always, Alan, I find your blog fascinating.

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  43. Wow, what a clever TT post! Cheers!

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  44. I love this- so cool!

    I am having to postpone my trip to your beautiful country but looking forward to visiting it again soon!

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  45. This is clever. I'm tempted to do my own image and see what comes up. Thank you :)

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  46. A wonderfully unique treatment of this weeks theme. Happy TT

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